The Ministry of Health will table a proposed law on Public Health before Parliament next week to provide for mandatory vaccination, wearing of masks and others.
Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng the health minister made the statement on Thursday afternoon while responding to different queries by Members of Parliament in regard to the government’s preparedness to combat the new Covid variant –Omicron that has now been detected in 23 countries across the world.
The Omicron variant is reported to have originated in Southern Africa and spread to different countries and some countries across the world have since closed their borders on travelers from West African countries and others.
Dr Aceng told the house that her Ministry is preparing to table the Public Health Bill next week to cater for a number of issues including mandatory vaccination, wearing of masks and penalties. However, the Minister did not reveal more details about the proposed law.
Busiro East MP, Medard Lubega Sseggona welcomed the proposal, saying that this law is long over view since it is needed to prevent some people from causing risk to others.
Dr. Aceng also told Parliament that the suggestion for government to develop a red list and block passengers from particular countries to enter Uganda is not a wise decision since it is not backed by scientific research.
Earlier, Aceng told journalists that mandatory testing will continue at the airport and other points of entry.
